Crusader

[DeJaVu]

Type/Model: CRD-7W Crusader
Mass: 65 tons
Chassis: Crucis-B
Power Plant: Hermes 260 XL
Walking Speed: 43 km/h
Maximum Speed: 65 km/h
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor Type: Kallon FWL Special Light Ferro-Fibrous with CASE
Armament: 2 Krupp MML-9
2 Krupp MML-5
2 Diverse Optics ER Medium Lasers
Manufacturer: None - planned refit
Primary Factory: Talon
Communications System: Garrett T-11A with C3
Targeting & Tracking System: Garret D5j with Artemis IV FCS


It pains me to write this, given how much we like the Crusader here in Marik space, but it appears the Word of Blake has taken this BattleMech and made it their own. Sherry on Hall sent me the schematics for the latest planned refit series, and it appears that I can now say why the Word has been buying up all the hulked CRD-5M Crusaders they did. They’re taking them down to the bone and building them back up into a varsity support ’Mech, and one strong enough that it could give us some problems.

While they’re keeping the -5M’s Hermes extra-light fusion engine, they’ve modified the torso cavity to hold one of the new extra-light gyros as well. The mass saved by this use is put to good use with the weapons loadout, which required the Word to switch to a new light ferro-fibrous armor composite as well.

Two pairs of Krupp’s new multi-missile launchers replace the old -5M’s LRMs and SRM with comparable bombardment capability with added flexibility. Each launcher is equipped with a missile-guidance Artemis pod, but the real danger of this is the variety of ammunition this Crusader can carry. With the Word’s easy access to the League-made special missile submunitions, this Crusader can be more unpredictable than an OmniMech simply by switching from ammunition bins between firings!

A pair of medium lasers rounds out the ’Mech's defensive armament, but I can’t stress this enough: with four separate launchers and the capacity to fire a different sort of missile from each one every time it shoots, we need to stay away from this one. If you’re in range when this monster cuts loose, you’ll be hurt. Count on it.

There is good news, though. The combination of the extra-light engine and massive amounts of space devoted to ammunition storage mean that a penetrating hit in the torso has an excellent chance of destroying that side of the ’Mech. All of the ammunition is arm-mounted, but the torsos are encased in protective CASE gear, but it’s Spheroid CASE, so a blast ion the arms will still gut the inside of the ’Mech and render it inoperative.

Gauss rifles. PPCs. Large-caliber autocannons. Whatever you have. Shoot this Crusader before it shoots you, because unless you’ve replaced all your weapons with anti-missile systems, you’re going to take a pounding at all ranges.

As with most things, hit it before it hits you.

[генерал]

Бестолковая, как мне кажется, модель. В чем ее предназначение? Ни для огневой поддержки ни для ближнего боя не приспособлен.